Can you give me info about these areas? (Albuquerque, Rio Rancho: for sale, real estate market)

[rcd]

Hello. We're considering relocating to ABQ and know absolutely nothing about the area. We've been trying to contact several realtors, but no one will call us back. The real estate market must be booming in ABQ. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone could give us opinions about some areas in which we are looking. We would like a 5 BR house for $350k or less. We have found what look like nice houses in Rio Rancho, Los Lunas, Paradise E and W, Southwest Heights, Nothwest Heights and Ladera Heights. Can you give me any opinions about theses areas? We can't afford private schools with 4 kids, so which of these would have the best schools? Which should we avoid? My husband would be working off of I-25 near Alameda...What would the commute be like? Are there any builders that have a bad reputation and should be avoided? Any thoughts and opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[mortimer]

You can check this web site for available houses:
ABQREALTORS.com - Official site of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Board of REALTORS®

I found 50 listed with 5 bedrooms with no specification
for location between $250k and $350k.

Commuting from Rio Rancho as noted in other threads is slightly
difficult, but working near Alameda would make it more tolerable
since after the bridge is crossed, he's pretty much there.
Paradise E/W and Rio Rancho are pretty much the same.
Same for Northwest Heights.

However, before plunking down any money on any house in
those areas, it would be best to drive the commute at the
height of rush hour because the lack of major arteries could
mean that you get hung up in local traffic for hours just to
go a few miles.

Of course, I'm speaking of an automobile commute. If inclined to
want to save some money, you can investigate here:
Weekday Routes - City of Albuquerque - ABQ RIDE If you buy a house near
a line that runs to Alameda, that could work for you.

Southwest Heights, Ladera Heights have no good way to go.
They require a W I-40 commute through the Big-I and up I-25.
It looks great on the map, but in reality would be miserable.

Los Lunas is something between a suburb and a separate town
South of Albuquerque. Commuting from there would require a
pass right through the center of town, so unless your husband's
working hours are very flexible, that living area should be avoided.

[Vpuccetti]

Hi RCD,

In my opinion Rio Rancho is the best bang for the buck depending on WHAT part of Rio Rancho. Taylor Heights, however, is a GREAT area and is rather close to Alameda, its pretty much Paseo Del Norte all the way down to Golf Course. Maybe a 10 - 15 minute drive commute. I'm pretty sure Cibola is the High school for that district.

And yes, for some odd reason real estate is taking a big climb and houses that normally cost 200k are going for 300k easily. I grew up in the NE heights and rather enjoyed it. I personally would not want to live in Rio Rancho because the commute is not that fun. And as ABQ and Rio Rancho keep growing and expanding outwards, traffic will just get worse and worse.

Some of the best schools are La Cueva, Sandia, Eldorado and... thats all I can think of. I'm a graduate of La Cueva '04, and wouldn't really recommend going there. I really love Sandia district and you can find really nice houses there, but not sure if they're 5 bedroom houses. They're commonly 1 story houses that I know of but of course I could be mistaken.

[Zoidberg]

I think the best place to live, for $350k/5br, job near I-25 & Alameda, is near I-25 & Alameda. Plenty of new construction of very nice homes right there (or just slightly east of there). Excellent schools, and one of Albuquerque's much nicer neighborhoods. Less than 5 minute commute too.

If you can't afford the homes in the area (not likely), then that's one thing, but living out on the west side for that job is a case of being bad at math.

[Chaparral]

As Zoidberg mentions, if you can swing a place on the east side and avoid the river crossing, that would be the way to go (particularly the La Cueva & Sandia HS districts). The tricky part may be the 5 BR. 3 and 4 BR houses are considerably more common.

But assuming you can't find a spot on the east side, I'll give you my two cents (as someone with young kids, works in area of I-25 & Alameda, and lives in Paradise East ).

First off, remove the Southwest Heights and Ladera Heights from your list. Don't waste your time, as these are not areas you will want to live with young children. Beyond that:

I would rank the areas you have listed as follows...
Schools:
1. Rio Rancho
2. Paradise East
3. Paradise West & NW Heights
5. Los Lunas

Commute:
1. Paradise East
2. NW Heights
3. Paradise West
4. Rio Rancho
5. Los Lunas

General "Livability"
1. Paradise East
2. NW Heights
3. Rio Rancho
4. Paradise West
5. Los Lunas

Hope this helps!

Chap

[_yb]

Where your husband is working he can avoid a bunch of stress by not having to cross the river. I would try to get into a home east of 25 between San Antonio and up to just north of Alameda. You may have some trouble finding what you are looking for on that budget. Then I would look in the north valley areas. North of Montano all the way to the north of Alameda you will be looking basiclly between the railroad and the river.
River crossing is not a wise move.

[rotorhead]

The problem with commuting from E to W or W to E in ABQ is of course the river. Admittedly its a pretty small river by normal standards, but you still need a bridge which are a huge political issue here and far too few in number for the traffic that needs them.

If your job is E of the river, by all means look in the NE heights. Everyone is talking about high school districts but are your kids that old yet? If so, the advice about La Cueva and Sandia districts as being the best choice hold true. The grade schools and middle schools are more of a mixed bag, you'll have to do more research.

If your job is west of the river you've got a bit more choice. The heaviest traffic is W to E in the morning, and E to W in the evening. My wife works on the W side but we live near UNM on the E side so she's always driving opposite the heavy traffic. Its still a 20-25 minute commute, but without the ridiculous delays of all the Rio Rancho residents who work in ABQs E side.

What you want to avoid is joining the mob working in ABQ and living in Rio Rancho, unless you like bumper to bumper traffic each way every day. Still nothing like the horrible congestion back east or in CA, but bad by NM standards.

Contrary to what I've been seeing on this forum, the real estate market is more of a buyers market than its been for quite some time here. The available inventory is higher than its been for over a year. While there's not been much of a downward trend in per square foot prices, the houses that do sell are staying on the market longer to do so. Two years ago there were half as many homes on the market at one time, and good deals were snapped up in days. Its not like that now.

[rcd]

Thank you for all of the replies. They were very helpful. We finally found a realtor that would call us back and she basically said that we would never be able to find a newer 4+ BR house in a good school disctrict and E of the river (to avoid a commute) in our "modest" price range. I didn't know $350k was modest. Here in Ohio, we bought a new 5 BR house on a huge lot in an excellent school district for $289k. It looks like if we take the plunge and move, my husband will have to have a horrible commute. The realtor couldn't tell us a thing about school districts because her children (and everyone else's that she knows) go to private school. Sorry, but with 4 children, that's just not possible for us. Can anyone tell me some specific neighborhoods we should look in or was she right in that we're destined to live in RR because of our budget?

[yukon]

If some of the regulars here can post zip codes for the areas they've recommended, you can do some searching on your own via REALTOR.com - Real Estate Listings & Homes For Sale. That might also help you find some realtors who specialize in the areas that have been recommended in earlier posts.

[Chaparral]

Originally Posted by rcd

Thank you for all of the replies. They were very helpful. We finally found a realtor that would call us back and she basically said that we would never be able to find a newer 4+ BR house in a good school disctrict and E of the river (to avoid a commute) in our "modest" price range. I didn't know $350k was modest. Here in Ohio, we bought a new 5 BR house on a huge lot in an excellent school district for $289k. It looks like if we take the plunge and move, my husband will have to have a horrible commute. The realtor couldn't tell us a thing about school districts because her children (and everyone else's that she knows) go to private school. Sorry, but with 4 children, that's just not possible for us. Can anyone tell me some specific neighborhoods we should look in or was she right in that we're destined to live in RR because of our budget?

If you can live with a 4 BR situation, then that will open up more places to consider. The 5 BR requirement will limit you greatly, as there just aren't that many out there in good areas in your price range.

On Albuquerque's West Side, try to focus on the area bordered by Unser (West), Montano (South), Coors (East) and the Bernalillo county line (North). These will contain zip codes 87120 & 87114.

On the East Side, aim for zip codes 87113, 87109, 87111, & 87122. This is a large area, but if you stay east of San Pedro or Louisiana and north of Candelaria you should be fine, assuming you can find something in your price range. Prices generally tend to skyrocket the further east you go. They also tend to go higher as you move north, but you can find some more reasonably priced neighborhoods just north of Paseo del Norte, near the western borders I mentioned above.

And as far as the commute from Rio Rancho to the Alameda/I-25 area goes: at times it could be annoying or inconvenient, but rarely horrible.

Good luck with your hunt!

Chap